Latina Institute In the News

Securing Real Choices Means Going Beyond "Choice"

RH Reality Check, 01/22/2010 –

This post is part of RH Reality Check's "What Does Choice Mean to You?" series commemorating the 37th anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

I was a junior in high school the first time I understood the political meaning of the term pro-choice. My very progressive, feminist “herstory” teacher organized a school trip to attend the 1992 abortion rights march in Washington DC. Sadly I was unable to go, but I eagerly made feminist signs, created slogans, and supported my friends who did attend. I soaked in everything about the abortion rights movement. It was a turning point in my political consciousness. Read more »

Executive Director Silvia Henriquez on GRITtv

GRITtv, 01/14/2010 –

Executive Director Silvia Henriquez talks about reproductive rights as human rights on this episode of GRITtv.

Watch the video »

Now is the time for Latinas to speak up

The Houston Chronicle, 01/04/2010 –

Last month, while the nation's attention was focused on Washington, D.C., and whether Congress would exclude abortion access from its health care reform package, a mirror image of that debate was taking place in Travis County, Texas. As members of Congress debated how to avoid using tax dollars for abortion care, Travis County officials did the exact opposite: They voted to use county tax dollars for abortion care for women living in poverty. Read more »

La salud reproductiva de las hispanas

El Diario La Prensa NY, 12/31/2009 –

Diversos estudios demuestran que —por razones muy diversas y complejas— las mujeres latinas están en una situación de enorme desventaja en materia de educación y derechos de salud reproductiva. Varias organizaciones comunitarias que forman parte de las casi 100 agencias de la Hispanic Federation cuentan con programas —o con componentes de programas, en algunos casos— que están orientados a remediar esa carencia que sufren las mujeres de nuestra comunidad. Read more »

CNN.com Exclusive: Latinas Need Voice in Abortion Debate

CNN.com, 12/11/2009 –

CNN.com features opinion commentary from Silvia Henriquez, executive director of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, on health care reform’s impact on women and immigrants.

In this exclusive Op-Ed for CNN.com/Opinion, read by 40 million people every month, Ms. Henriquez highlights the growing political power of Latinas and demands reproductive justice for the millions of women across the United States in danger of losing abortion coverage as a result of anti-choice politics in health care reform. Read more »

Executive Director Silvia Henriquez in the NY Times on Health Care Reform

New York Times, 12/10/2009 –

A Letter to the Editor by Silvia Henriquez, Executive Director of NLIRH, was published in the New York Times this week.

Read more »

National Latina Institute Rallies for Real Health Care Reform on Capitol Hill

MetroLatinoUSA, 12/05/2009 –

Washington, DC--- The National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health (NLIRH), Latina activists and reproductive health and rights groups rallied on Capitol Hill to demand Congress and the President eliminate the double standard in health care reform for women and immigrants. NLIRH and Latina activists traveled from New York City to Capitol Hill to protect the health and rights of Latinas and their families.

Read more »

Immigrant seekers won't have to get HPV vaccine

MSNBC, 11/16/2009 –

DALLAS (AP) — Immigrant girls and women will no longer have to be vaccinated against a sexually transmitted virus to get their permanent U.S. residency permits.

Starting Dec. 14, the HPV, or human papillomavirus vaccine will no longer be on the list of immunizations female immigrants ages 11 to 26 must receive before becoming legal permanent residents.

Read more »

HPV Vaccination Immigration Requirement Rescinded

Ms. Magazine, 11/16/2009 –

Effective December 14th, young women who are seeking legal permanent resident status in the United States will no longer be required to be vaccinated against the Human Papillomavirus (HPV). According to the Federal Register, "while HPV may be an age appropriate vaccine for an immigrant applicant, HPV neither causes outbreaks nor is it associated with outbreaks...Further, HPV has not been eliminated, nor is in the process of elimination, in the United States. Read more »

The Other Fight in Health Reform: Immigrants' Access to Medical Coverage

RH Reality Check, 11/13/2009 –

Outrageous, incredible, unbelievable.

We’ve heard these words quite a lot from reproductive rights groups and pro-choice advocates, still in shock over the U.S. House of Representatives’ decision to pass an amendment banning most abortions from all public and privately funded health plans in the insurance exchange. The idea that women would have to plan for an unplanned pregnancy is ludicrous and simply a red herring as anti-choice advocates attempt to make Roe null and void.

The National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health shares this outrage, and is working to generate Latino calls to ensure women's right to access abortion care--and to decide for themselves how to spend their private health care dollars--is a part of the final Senate bill. Read more »